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Third Party Material Consultation Response

Miss Sarah Dines: I am pleased to announce that the Government has today published its response to the public consultation on police requests for personal records or ‘third party material’. This consultation was a key component on our work to address how the criminal justice system responds to rape. We launched this consultation to understand more about the issues surrounding police requests for personal records, how often these are unnecessary and disproportionate and how far they have a negative impact on investigation timelines. I am grateful to all the respondents who came forward with their views and helped us to gain a clearer picture of the problems in this space. Respondents told us that victims of rape and other sexual offences are frequently subject to unnecessary and disproportionate requests for personal records, that police and CPS practice with regards to these kinds of requests are inconsistent and that victim confidence is severely impacted by having their privacy unnecessarily invaded, and by the lengthy investigations that can result from delays in requests for personal records. The Government is therefore committing to legislation to address the issues of unnecessary and disproportionate requests for third party material when Parliamentary time allows, and to ensuring that victims feel safe to report crime in the knowledge that their private lives will not be unnecessarily invaded. A copy of the Government response will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and it will also be published on Gov.UK.

Department for Education

Defibrillators in schools

Nick Gibb: My Noble Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the School System and Student Finance (Baroness Barran) has made the following statement.The Department for Education (DfE) has announced that the first deliveries of defibrillators to state-funded schools in England are taking place this week. The programme seeks to ensure that all schools have access to defibrillators. To do this, the department has procured over 20,000 defibrillators for schools, with deliveries expected to be completed over this academic year.The department has worked with leading charities, including the British Heart Foundation, the Oliver King Foundation, Resuscitation Council UK and St John Ambulance to update its defibrillator guidance. This revised guidance will give schools the tools they need to successfully manage their defibrillators and maximise access, where appropriate. The guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/automated-external-defibrillators-aeds-in-schoolsIn addition, the department is providing awareness videos, showing how simple defibrillators are to use and will be encouraging schools to share these videos in staff meetings and assemblies. By providing defibrillators and raising awareness, this programme will help a generation of young people to feel confident and able to use this life saving equipment.Research shows that cardiac arrest is more likely to happen during sporting activities. Therefore, secondary schools with two or more defibrillators will also receive an internal cabinet, so that one defibrillator can be placed at the school sports facility. This will ensure that defibrillators are strategically placed where they are most needed and will maximise their availability to the community using the sports facility for clubs and other activities.Research also shows that broader access to defibrillators is lower in certain areas. To address this, we will be targeting support to primary schools, special schools and alternative provision settings in areas which currently have lower provision who want to make their DfE-funded defibrillators accessible to their local community, an external defibrillator cabinet. This will support greater access to defibrillators for local communities in the areas that need it most.The procurement for defibrillator cabinets is underway, and we expect deliveries to take place this year. More details will be released once the procurement has concluded.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Independent Expert Assessment of Crustacean Mortality in the North-east of England in 2021 and 2022

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Today I am publishing the Independent Expert Assessment of Unusual Crustacean Mortality in the North-east of England in 2021 and 2022 on gov.uk. The report documents the findings of the independent crustacean mortality expert panel (CMEP) convened by our Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Gideon Henderson. The panel was convened in December 2022 to provide an independent scientific assessment of all the possible causes of the mass mortality incident using all relevant available data. I would like to thank the members of the panel for their work. The independent panel concluded that pyridine or another toxic pollutant as the cause was very unlikely as was any link to dredging for the Freeport. A novel pathogen is considered by the independent panel to be the most likely cause of mortality because it could explain the key observations including mortality over a sustained period and along over 40 miles of coastline, the unusual twitching of dying crabs and the deaths being predominantly crabs rather than other species. I will consider carefully if further analysis by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) can ascertain conclusively the cause of this unusual mortality.

Government response to the Deposit Return Scheme consultation

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government is publishing its response to the 2021 consultation on Introducing a Deposit Return Scheme in England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. The consultation confirmed strong public backing, with 83% of respondents including key industry players expressing support for a Deposit Return Scheme for single-use drinks containers. We will proceed with the scheme that covers cans and plastic bottles. The Deposit Return Scheme will boost recycling, significantly reduce drinks containers littered in our environment, and promote a circular economy by making it easier for consumers to recycle. The scheme aims to ensure 85% fewer drinks containers are discarded as litter after three years of its launch. Today’s publication is a critical milestone as it triggers the start for work towards introducing the Deposit Return Scheme in October 2025 Government will take secondary legislation through Parliament to establish the necessary framework and obligations. The Welsh government will take legislation through the Senedd. This will be an industry led scheme, and we will work collaboratively with the relevant sectors to enable industry to establish the organisation, systems and infrastructure to operate a Deposit Return Scheme that will provide a step change in how we manage our waste.